When you ask yourself who is the best full back in the Premier League? It’s a fair certainty that the makeshift Chelsea left back wouldn’t make an appearance at the top of your list.
The Spaniard is not a very popular choice amongst other top flight fans but if you were to ask any Chelsea fan they would tell you how good he really is.
With the likes of Pablo Zabaleta, Leighton Baines above him in a potential list of prolific full backs in the league you could argue that he’s more than a fair way down the pecking order.
You can however site his ousting of the outstanding Ashley Cole as evidence of how far he’s come and Chelsea’s brilliant defensive record thus far as well. In particular his performances in the league wins against City, where he rendered a top winger in Jesus Navas useless, just further reinforce the notion that he is a vital cog in the Blues defensive machine.
Here are few things that have helped Cesar Azpilicueta solidify his name in the Chelsea Line up:
1. Stubbornness – Cesar is a fighter, he constantly pesters defenders, provides tight marking and his awareness and positioning allows him to make some unbelievable interceptions.
2. Speed – He may not have the aerial ability of his fellow defenders Ivanovic, Terry and Cahill but Azpilicueta’s more than makes up for it with his speed. However when you have to keep up with the likes Eden Hazard, Willian, Andre Schurrle etc every single day on the training pitch you have to be fairly quick on your feet.
3. Box to Box player – Azpilicueta’s only goal of the season against Arsenal in the League cup where he ran almost the full length of the field to tuck the ball home to give Chelsea the lead before former blue Juan Mata sealed the game later on. It’s another aspect expected of the modern full back to be able to run at opposing defenders and overlap the wingers, the likes of Dani Alves, Patrice Evra and Ashley Cole have been prolific at it over the years.
4. Versatility – Azpilicueta preferred position is at right back but due to Branislav Ivanovic’s excellent record there and with the partial decline of Ashley Cole, Mourinho has seen fit to accomodate Cesar at the left back position and he has done exceptionally well since his conversion.
His only flaws are that his ability to produce in the final third be it with a killer pass or cross is low and as previously mentioned his aerial ability isn’t as formidable as his other defensive colleagues. However he makes up for this with his character in the dressing room, his Happy Go lucky character is famous among his team mates especially the Spanish ones.
Azpilicueta is at a perfect stage of his career at only 24 his future could well see him establish himself as the best full back in the Premier League, there is still much to be done but the future is certainly bright for the Spaniard.
